I guess if I saw both logos on the draft handles at a bar I would get confused after 15 or so beers....they both have green in their logos . Good thing magic hat #9 handle is made out of metal. If anyone disagrees tell me but I almost feel magic hat is going through an identity crises. You truly only see their #9 anywhere now a days, in PA at bars, and they seem to be following bud-a-rita line of thinking with some of their beers. Not that there is a problem with vegetable beers but when your cucumber beer makes me wish I was just having cucumber infused water instead...there is an issue. Even their website is ridiculous. You go on it and "MY EYES!" This would be as ridicules as if Unibroue sued them for people getting confused between their Trois Pistoles and magic hats Pistil.

« Last Edit: May 22, 2013, 03:57:22 AM by rhcpfan4002 »

Logged

“Ho! Ho! Ho! To the bottle I goTo heal my heart and drown my woeRain may fall, and wind may blowAnd many miles be still to goBut under a tall tree will I lieAnd let the clouds go sailing by” ― J.R.R. Tolkien

cornershot

Trying to litigate 'em out of business? Not just a BMC tactic anymore! Far from the good vibes I have always associated with craft beer. I haven't drank Magic Hat in awhile anyway (because it's not great beer.)

/sarcasm/My first thought was they must have a patent on "rounded edges". Then I remembered that's Apple. So it must be that both logos use the same green color and both are at a minimum "roundish" in shape. /end sarcasm/

Sadly this is world we all live in. Corporate legal department or firm on retainer means very little additional cost for the big boys to file petitions. It wastes the courts time and eats away at the profitability of your smaller competitors. Why innovate when you can litigate?

I'm no fan of Magic Hat beers but I can see some similarity between the labels. I mean, aside from the numbers being different. Similar color, similar font and similar star. Although craft drinkers would probably not confuse the two, people who dabble in craft/are new to craft may not be so distinguishing. I could easily see the same company putting out a #9 and #6 beer (as some do) with similar logos. If one just saw the similar logos on draft handles you can imagine somebody who didn't know any better thinking the two were related beers. Maybe it is just the lawyer in me (but not an IP lawyer) looking for the Magic Hat angle but I could see a federal judge agreeing the logos are similar enough.

I know that is not the popular opinion among craft drinkers and most craft drinkers cry foul when brewers don't play nice and let these things go, but craft brewing is turning into big business, even with lots of small businesses in play, and that means people are going to start protecting their business interests. If you don't protect your appropriately then you might find yourself losing the right to protect and use it down the road, which would be silly. Breweries are going to have to start doing a better job of making sure their IP is not infringing on other brewers' IP. Getting some logos on fivver and slapping it on your logo isn't going to cut it going forward.

...If you don't protect your appropriately then you might find yourself losing the right to protect and use it down the road, which would be silly. Breweries are going to have to start doing a better job of making sure their IP is not infringing on other brewers' IP...

Absolutely right. Especially since what I've been saying for years is particularly true these days: 'craft' breweries aren't so much in competition with the BMCs of the world nearly as much as they are in competition with each other. It will get even more intense as new breweries continue to jump on the bandwagon, competing for shelf space, tap space, and customer loyalty (though in the new world of beer, customer loyalty is less prevalent as drinkers are always looking for the next new thing).

[begin rant] In our legal system, the primary way to redress legitimate grievance is to sue someone. Somehow, our culture has decided that nearly all lawsuits are "frivolous," leaving real victims frequently demonized and without recourse. Case in point, that McDonald's coffee lawsuit that nearly everyone thought was frivolous, even though the lady suffered 3rd degree burns, spent 8 days in the hospital, and required skin grafts. [/end rant]